Portable rest for carrying books, papers, and the like.



D. MARSHALL. PORTABLE BEST FOR CARRYING BOOKS, PAPERS, AND THE LIKE.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB.15, 1912.

Patented 00%. '7, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO..\VASHINGTON. D. C

D. MARSHALL.

PORTABLE RBST FOR CARRYING BOOKS, RAPERS, AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED P111345, 1912.

:1, 74,968., Patented 0ct.7,1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PAPERS, AND THE LIKE.

Patented 0011.7, 1913.

s sums-81mm s.

D. MARSHALL.

PORTABLE BEST FOR CARRYING BOOKS,

APPLICATION FILED 123.15, 1912.

ruuoolung :0; WASHINGTON, o. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFlFL DALE MARSHAL-L, OF CZE-I ELTENHAM, ENGLAND.

PORTABLE -'FOR lCAR/EYING BOOKS, PAPERS, AND THE LIKE.

ouses.

Application filed February 15, 1912.

Too whome't may concern l Be it known that I, DALE .MARSI-IALL, re-j siding at Cheltenham, in the county of; Gloucester, England, engineer, a subject of the King of. Great Britain, have invented; new .and useful Improvements in :and Con- "nected with vPortable Rests for Carryingij :Books, Papers, and the like, of which the} following is a specification. My invention relatesto portable reading? and writing rests whichare solely supported; on the users body and principally carried. by a cord around theshoulders,and is intended to fold up into a small space to permit of it being carried in the .pocket, dis-i tinguished and characterized by most parts} thereof depending and moving from a com-f mon-center and folding one over the other.

The device of my invention will be more, fully described in connection with the ac-! companying drawings, and willbe morepar ticularly set forth in and by the appended; claims. i, In the drawings :Figure 1 shows the-de-g vice in its folded-condition. Figs. 2, 3 andl 4:, are views in front and side elevation, showing the manner in which the device is; opened out in readiness for use. Figs. and 6, show the device as it would appear{ inuse respectivelyby aperson standing erect; or in a prone position. Fig. 7, are enlarged, views of three-details of the device. Fig. 8,; is an enlarged back view in elevation of the; central portion of the device. Fig. 9, is also an enlarged view in side elevation of: the central part. Figs. 10 and 11,.are other; forms of the device in elevation. 1 Like letters of reference indicate similar'i parts in the several views. In carrying my invention into efiect I form a portable and collapsible reading and: writing rest as shown in Figs. 1 to 9, by." pivoting at one common center P six thin; grooved and flanged sheet metal members,f A, B, G, D, E, :and F, one over the other; enabling them to-beswiveled and folded one}. overthe other so as tooccupy a small spacef; as shown in Fig. 1. The upper part isformed by connecting the outer extremities of two of the said members, namely, A and B, by means of a cord or a strip J jointed at its center, and in the lattercase the said strip is centrally grooved for the combined purpose of stiffening and locking in the extended position, the locking eing accomplished by the spring like overlapping of vSpeeification'of Letters Patent.

and into the grooves of the other.

tremities of the members A and B.

'Fa ten-ted Get. '7, 1913.

Serial No. 67?;880.

the jointed ends and lengthwise engagement of the grooves of the one part. over Two others, E and F, of the said members which are ofan'gular formation are used as-a ledge ,forthe'bookand are supported at their outer extremities by being attached to the aforementioned members A and B by jointed strips, cord, or as shown in the present instanceby chains K to maintain them in a horizontal position relatively thereto; and as "denoted in Figs. 4, 5' and 6 I use the two remaining members G and D when splayed apart as strutsor a fulcrum to assist in supporting the aforementioned members (which form the upper part of the device) away from the users body, while the top portion already described is held in semisuspension by a cord H or the like passing around the users body, under arm pits or over shoulders as denoted in Fig. 6, the end of which cord is attached to the outer and upper ex- In combination therewith the one end of the sald suspending cord His fixed in a reel R upon which it may be wound both for convenience and to serve'as a means for adjust-- mg the posltlon of rest to suit users sight while the other end hasa temporary means of attachment provided by being passed through a slot V'made flat-wise in the member B and into a round hole formed at the slots inner end and its withdrawal through the hole is prevented by a knot made at the cords extremity, which construction, while permitting of the cords easy a;tachment, prevents its accidental detachment. To determine and maintain the splayed position of the struts C and D I provide a stop S (see Fig. 8 which gives an enlarged view of the part in question) the stop consisting of an end portion S of the member A. which extends below the central pivot P against which one side of the inner strut G abuts when swiveled around in the act of opening, and Ialso provide a tongue or turned down portion X at that part of the strut D nearest to the central pivot so as to engage shoulders formed by cutting away the metal at U in the other co-acting under strut C.

For the purpose of convenience and holding down the pages of a book placed on the rest, on each of the members E and F formingthe ledge I provide spring wire clips made in two parts, the coiled end of the onepart Wbeing fixed in a circular recess 0 and secured by its end Z passing through the ledge and being turned up and over its edge; the second portion Y is hinged to its outer end, so that While it may be turned up at right angles to the former and clip the pages it will, when folded, lie snugly within the said ledges E and 1?;

As a modification I may also form the de vice as an extending lattice (see Fig. 10) whereby the user'can' adapt the width to requirements, and in which form the struts C and D are made as part of the lattice, and as in the former a ledge for the book is formed of two angular strips E and 1* which are supported on and secured to each other at their inner ends by a pivot P, and to the framing by secondary pivot P while their outer ends are suitably supported by jointedmembers or chains K fixed to the lattice frame, and as in the former the device issupported centrally by a pivot, and their outer ends in a similar manner asheretofore described, while the supporting cord H is also attached to its upper extremities.

What I claim is 1. The combination, in a folding writing or reading rest to be supported and carried by the user, ath several strips pivoted at a common center, of means for locking two of the strips in extended position, of means for attaching at the outer extremities of these two strips a cord to be carried over the users shoulders, of means for connecting to the said two strips other two strips departing from the common center and angular in form to constitute a ledge, and of two struts pivoted at the common center and splayed apart to be rested against the users body, substantially as described and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, in a folding writing or reading rest to be support-ed and carried by the user, with several strips pivoted at a common center, of means for locking two of the strips in extended position, of means for attaching at the outer extremities of these two strips a cord to be carried over the users shoulders, of means for connecting to the said twostrips other two strips departing from the common center and angular in form to constitute a ledge, of two sition of use, substantially as described and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, in a folding writing or reading rest to be supported and carried by the user, with several strips pivoted at a common center, of means for locking two of the strips in extended position, of a reel on the end of one of these two strips, of a slot terminating in a round hole on the end of the other ofthese two strips, of a cord fixed at one end on the reel and provided at the other end with a knot to be introduced in the slot and hole, of'means for connecting to the said two strips other two strips departing from the common center and angular in form to constitute a ledge, and of two struts pivoted at the common center and splayed apart to be rested against the users body, substantially as described andfor the purpose specified. v

4-. The combination, in a folding writing or reading rest to be supported and carried by the user, with several strips pivoted at a common center, of means for locking two of the strips in extended position, of telescopically extensible parts on these two strips, of means for attaching at the outer extremities of these two strips a cord to be carried over the users shoulders, of means for connecting to the said two strips other two strips departing from the common center and angular in form to constitute a ledge, and of two struts pivoted at the common center and splay-ed apart to be. rested against the users body, substantially as described and for the purpose specified.

5. The combination, in a folding writing or reading rest to be supported and carried by the user, with several strips pivoted at a common center, of means for stiffening and locking two of the strips in extended position, of means for attaching at the outer extremities of these two strips a cord to be carried over the users shoulders, of means for connecting to the said two strips other two strips departing from the'common center and angular in form to constitute a ledge, and of two struts pivoted at the common center and splayed apart to be rested against the users body, substantially as described and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I. atfix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DALE MARSHALL,

Witnesses:

ELEANOR GiBBINs, ARTHUR G. HOLTAM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

'Washing'ton, D. G. 

